Bullying victimization among middle school students in el kef governorate (Tunisia)

Abstract Background and aim Bullying is a complex and widespread public health issue that one can be exposed to at any age and at any field, but it is considered particularly frequent during times of transition in children’s and adolescents’ lives. This study aims to investigate the prevalence and various forms of bullying victimization and explore culture of bullying victimization among students. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted during the Academic year 2018/2019 among middle school students in the governorate of El Kef, Tunisia. The sampling method adopted for this research was a cluster sampling technique. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires. The Students’ involvement in bullying victimization was assessed using a validated Arabic version of the revised Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire. Results A total of 1111 middle school students were enrolled. The prevalence of bullying victimization behavior in this study was 45.8 % [95% CI: 45.5- 46]. Looking at the forms of bullying experienced by students: “Being called mean names” was the most prevalent form of being bullied with 26.9% (n = 299), followed by 16.9% reported “being kicked in some place”, 16.3% reported “being bullied through false rumors” and 14.3% experienced bullying through messages, calls or images by means of mobile phones or Internet and 8.1% of the students reported being bullied with sexual gestures or comments. Verbal bullying (29.5%) was the most common type of victimization, followed by physical victimization, relational victimization and cyber victimization with 22.5%, 22.2% and 14.3% respectively. More than half of the students (58.5%) were more likely to inform others about incidents of bullying in their schools, mainly their parents (36.6%) or a friend (32.6%). Conclusions Bullying is serious and major public health issue that have a negative impact on adolescents’ well-being, and require special attention at the family, school, and community level Key messages • High prevalence of bullying victimization with predominace of verbal type. • Culture of bullying victimization and taking care of victims is still weak.


Background:
Hospital discharge records (HDR) can indirectly assess the quality of primary care through algorithms proposed by the Agency for Health Research and Quality (AHRQ). Mental illnesses or substance addictions represent barriers to accessibility to medical care which, can lead to hospitalizations deemed potentially preventable. The aim of this study is to evaluate the gender differences in the association between potentially preventable acute hospitalizations whether mental health or addiction.

Methods:
The study examined HDRs of the Local Health Authority of Pescara, Abruzzo, period 2015-2021. The aggregate Prevention Quality Acute Composite 91 (PQI-91) has been coded according to the indications of the AHRQ. Were selected HDRs with a diagnosis of depression, psychosis, alcohol or substance abuse according to Enhanced ICD-9-CM Elixhauser algorithm. Four univariate logistic regression models were implemented correcting for age.

Conclusions:
Gender is an innovative approach to health inequalities: women and men respond to a different diagnostic-prescriptive appropriateness, which depends both on biology and on social, cultural, psychological and economic distances. Research efforts must be made to observe the effect healthcare access disparities have on patients who experience mental illness or addiction. Key messages: Mental health can limit access to primary care for other comorbidities or acute diseases; poor-quality primary care can result in preventable hospitalizations that increase the cost of health care. The gender differences for the same diagnosis of mental illness/addiction that cause potentially preventable acute hospitalizations impose gender-specific strategies aimed at modifying care pathways.

Background and aim:
Bullying is a complex and widespread public health issue that one can be exposed to at any age and at any field, but it is considered particularly frequent during times of transition in children's and adolescents' lives. This study aims to investigate the prevalence and various forms of bullying victimization and explore culture of bullying victimization among students.

Conclusions:
Bullying is serious and major public health issue that have a negative impact on adolescents' well-being, and require special attention at the family, school, and community level Key messages: High prevalence of bullying victimization with predominace of verbal type. Culture of bullying victimization and taking care of victims is still weak.

Issue/problem:
The practice took place in a private school with students from 9 to 15 years old. The purpose of the intervention was to promote the mental health of students. The school's goal was to eliminate school bullying incidents. The phenomenon of school bullying has global dimensions.

Description of the problem:
The teachers of the school did not consider that they should be involved in issues of mental health of the students and did not take steps to reduce the phenomena of school bullying. In the meetings with the students, which had duration of six months, concepts such as self-esteem, empathy, emotional intelligence, cooperation, respect, stress, failure were analyzed. The causes and consequences of school bullying were discussed. The aim of the meetings was to raise students' awareness to the above issues, to understand themselves and others and to develop teamwork. In the meetings with the students, three basic principles were developed: Facilitate-Respect-Recognize.

Results:
After the end of the practice in the school context, students, teachers and parents completed an evaluation questionnaire anonymously. It turned out that the meetings at school became a cause for discussion in the classroom by 100% and at home by 65%. The students stated that they would not allow school violence or bullying after the meetings. It is noteworthy that one in three teachers did not consider the promotion of mental health as part of their duties while the parents expected the teachers to fulfill this goal 100%.

Lessons:
It would be especially useful to conduct training seminars for teachers on adult (to enable better communication channels with parents) and child mental health and conflict management. Respectively, the parents should be educated on issues of mental health and psychopedagogy. The innovation of this action was that it involved teachers, parents and students while similar initiatives seldom take place in a Greek school environment.
Key messages: Promoting healthy interpersonal relationships at school between students and teachers. Recognizing children's emotions promotes their mental health during school life.